Why is everyone around talking about stress? Why is it that there are numerous seminars held to manage stress? While reading through a few stress management articles, I found understanding the techniques to manage stress and some stress models, more stressful than stress itself!
So what are we talking about here? Well, nothing technical. We’ll take a look at the brighter side.
Let’s begin with what stress is and how negative it actually is. Stress is the ‘wear and tear’ our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment. So should change be stopped? Nah, ‘change is the only constant.’ How can a constant be altered? We say stress results in feelings of distrust, rejection, anger and depression etc. Is that all about stress? Although stress has become synonymous with something bad, some stress is good for you. Every coin has two sides and so does stress.
Positive stress also known as ‘eustress’, can help compel us to action, it can result in new awareness and exciting new perspectives. It can inspire us to do our best and perform better, than if we were under no stress. Research says, ‘we are capable of peak levels of performance when under moderate amount of stress’. Looks like you don’t believe it. Let me cite an example:
Consider a situation such as taking a test or giving a presentation. Reducing your stress through preparation and careful planning leads to a more confident and competent performance. The increase in stress motivated and caused you to take action. Isn’t it?
The catch in the positive stress thinking is determining the optimal levels of stress for you. Everyone is an individual with unique requirements. An event can be distressing to one while joy to another. As an individual, you need to be aware of your stressors (stress causing factors) and your emotional and physical reactions. Becoming aware of the present moment rather than dwelling in the past or projecting into future will help you point out when it is too much for you. Once you can figure that out, you can immediately act to control excess stress.
To conclude I’ll narrate a small story. Once upon a time in a land, East of globe, there was a dancer, a dancer who danced like no other. Then as fate would have it, she met with an accident that took her legs away. Was she stressed? The physical and social inadequacies gave her more impetus to carry on her dance performances with help of prosthetic legs rather than deter her spirits. She kept her calm. She hung in there. You guessed it right. Sudha Chandran.
So, is stress really stressful???
So what are we talking about here? Well, nothing technical. We’ll take a look at the brighter side.
Let’s begin with what stress is and how negative it actually is. Stress is the ‘wear and tear’ our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment. So should change be stopped? Nah, ‘change is the only constant.’ How can a constant be altered? We say stress results in feelings of distrust, rejection, anger and depression etc. Is that all about stress? Although stress has become synonymous with something bad, some stress is good for you. Every coin has two sides and so does stress.
Positive stress also known as ‘eustress’, can help compel us to action, it can result in new awareness and exciting new perspectives. It can inspire us to do our best and perform better, than if we were under no stress. Research says, ‘we are capable of peak levels of performance when under moderate amount of stress’. Looks like you don’t believe it. Let me cite an example:
Consider a situation such as taking a test or giving a presentation. Reducing your stress through preparation and careful planning leads to a more confident and competent performance. The increase in stress motivated and caused you to take action. Isn’t it?
The catch in the positive stress thinking is determining the optimal levels of stress for you. Everyone is an individual with unique requirements. An event can be distressing to one while joy to another. As an individual, you need to be aware of your stressors (stress causing factors) and your emotional and physical reactions. Becoming aware of the present moment rather than dwelling in the past or projecting into future will help you point out when it is too much for you. Once you can figure that out, you can immediately act to control excess stress.
To conclude I’ll narrate a small story. Once upon a time in a land, East of globe, there was a dancer, a dancer who danced like no other. Then as fate would have it, she met with an accident that took her legs away. Was she stressed? The physical and social inadequacies gave her more impetus to carry on her dance performances with help of prosthetic legs rather than deter her spirits. She kept her calm. She hung in there. You guessed it right. Sudha Chandran.
So, is stress really stressful???